Bass Fishing: Naperville Central moves up 20 spots to finish fifth at state

CARLYLE, Ill — Naperville Central danced up 20 spots to take fifth at the fourth Illinois High School Association state championship for bass fishing Saturday. Highland won the two-day tournament on Carlyle Lake with a haul weighing 27 pounds, 13 ounces.

Highland was fishing a lot of rock, which can test patience. ‘‘They were consistent and kept fishing, they didn’t even stop to eat,’’ Highland coach Jon Rinderer said.

Naperville Central found out what the bass would eat and stuck with it.

‘‘We were catching them quite consistently, all on the same bait by the end of the day,’’ Andrew Mlotek said. ‘‘We didn’t catch a fish after 1 [p.m.]. Well, a crappie I was tempted to take to eat.’’

Senkos, a worm-imitator, is what worked for Mlotek and fellow senior Charlie Sterrett, who left early for prom.

‘‘All our fish came in the same spot, on riprap or points,’’ Mlotek said.

They weighed the day’s second biggest bag of 15-4 to total 25-7.

Each team could weigh its five heaviest bass, 12 inches or longer. Finishes were decided by the two-day totals.

The story of the day may end up being a fish that Bradley-Bourbonnais senior Jack Waldschmidt caught, a Cabela’s-tagged fish with a possible value up to $1 million. He was using a Texas-rigged Beaver in Allen Branch when he landed the tagged fish.

‘‘I didn’t know what it was,’’ he said.

‘‘We told him [any possible big winnings] will look good in the team fund,’’ Bradley-Bourbonnais coach Rick McCarty joked.

That and four other good keepers gave the Boilermakers 12-11 for the day, good enough to finish sixth.

Fenwick, which sophomore Alex Davis had in first place by one pound after Day 1, dropped to 35th (18-8) after weighing only two keepers Saturday. Marist, which sat in second after Day 1 behind Nick Engel and Nick Kushnerik, weighed four and dropped to 19th (22-1).

Shaking his head, Engel’s dad Dave, the boat captain, said, ‘‘We wanted to give them a little scare being from the city. They worked hard.’’

Naperville North (24-11) tied for seventh and Zion-Benton (24-8) finished 10th, the school’s second top-10 finish.

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